Mugam
is one of the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. It is a highly
complex form of art music (as opposed to folk music) with specific
systems and concepts of musical expression that demand of its performers
a very high standard of professionalism.[1]
Mugam belongs to the system of modal music and has close ties to the
Persian and Arabian musical tradition. It is therefore meta-ethnical,
because it is not restricted to one particular region but covers a wide
area of the Middle and Far East. The Uighurs in Xinjian (Sinkiang) call
this musical development “Muqam,” the Uzbeks and Tadjiks call it “Maqom”
(also “Shasmaqom”), while the Arabs, Persians and Turks call it “Maqam.”
In Azerbaijan the word is Mugam. It is based on many different modes and
tonal scales where different relations between notes and scales are
envisaged and developed.

The
meta-ethnicity (and dazzling complexity) of this music also becomes
apparent in the fact that terms such as “mugam,” “maqam,” or “dastgah,”
omnipresent in oriental music, can mean one thing in the Turkish
tradition, while the same term in the music of Uzbekistan takes on quite
another meaning, and yet another in the classical Arabian tradition. So,
in one culture “mugam” may be related to a strictly fixed melodic
type, while in another it is only the cadences, i. e. the melody endings
that are associated with it. In a third culture it may only correspond
to a specific type of tone scales.

It
is therefore not surprising that reference works give insufficient
information (if any at all) about the concept, since it is not easy to
define: “[M]usicologists
mutter something incomprehensible (because, with a few exceptions, they
don’t know either), and the Azeri people explain it in such a
roundabout manner that it is impossible to work it out.” (Skans).

Part
of the confusion arises from the fact that the term itself can have two
different, if related meanings. The famous Azeri composer Kara Karayev
has the following explanation: “The expression ‘Mugam’ is used in
two senses in the folk music of Azerbaijan. On the one hand the word ‘Mugam’
describes the same thing as the term ‘lad’ [Russian for key, mode,
scale]. An analysis of Azeri songs, dances and other folk-music forms
show that they are always constructed according to one [of these] modes.
On the other hand the term ‘Mugam’ refers to an individual,
multi-movement form. This form combines elements of a suite and a
rhapsody, is symphonic in nature, and has its own set of structural
rules. In particular one should observe that the ‘Suite-Rhapsody-Mugam’
is constructed according to one particular ‘Mode-Mugam’ and is
subject to all of the particular requirements of this mode.” (Sovietskaya
Muzkya 1949:3).

“Mugam,”
describe a specific type of musical composition and performance, which
is hard to grasp with western concepts of music in another respect: for
one, Mugam composition is improvisational in nature. At the same time it
follows exact rules. Furthermore, in the case of a “Suite-Rhapsody-Mugam”
the concept of improvisation is not really an accurate one, since the
artistic imagination of the performers is based on a strict foundation
of principles determined by the respective mode. The performance of
mugams does therefore not present an amorphous and spontaneous,
impulsive improvisation.[2]

The
songs are often based on the ancient poetry of Azerbaijan, and although
love is a common topic in these poems, to the uninitiated ear many of
the intricacies and allusions are lost. For one, the poems do not
primarily deal with worldly love but with the mystical love for god. Yet,
strictly speaking, this is still secular music/poetry, as opposed to,
say, Sufism. Nevertheless, mugam composition is designed very similarly
to Sufism in that it seeks to achieve ascension from a lower level of
awareness to a transcendental union with god. It is a spiritual search
for god.

[1]
This is not to say that traditional folk music is any less demanding
in terms of skills or values! — Azerbaijan also has a great
tradition of composers and musicians of western classical music.
Fikret Amirov (1922-1984) was the first Azeri composer of classical
music to write mugams for symphony orchestras. Such works are
obviously very different from traditional mugam formations but in
fact incorporate many mugam idioms. On the level of musicians there
remains a strict separation between classical and “traditional”
music in terms of training. Even if the musicians are educated at
one and the same conservatory they stick to one camp.

[2]
With respect to the concept of improvisation, Mugam music is often
put in relation to jazz, a comparison that is accurate to a
certain point only. Although Mugam does allow for a wide margin of
interpretation, an equation with jazz is oversimplified, since it
fails to account for the different kinds of improvisation for
different Mugam modes. The performance of a certain Mugam may last
for hours. (For the uninitiated listener it is close to impossible
to know whether a musician is actually improvising or playing a
prearranged composition.) Furthermore, as Karayev stresses, Mugam
music has a symphonic character.